Apparatus for manufacture of die plates



4 Aug. 17 1926.

E. L. HORNSEY APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF DIE PLATES Emma; jfornse 0 1 7 .O t 9 m Q u V// n s t 9 A e W p 6 w h 46 v 2 11 E E Filed July 21, 1923 Aug. 17 1926. 1,596,659 E. L. HORNSEY APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF DIE PLATES Filed July 21. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 the o}?i zraiiiorn.-; in 'i'vhichcne or mere a.

Patented Aug. 17, 1926.

lJNl'iEl) STATES EDWARD L. HORNSEY, 0F CAMBRIDGE, MASACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF DIE PLATES.

Application filed July 21", 1923. Serial No. 652,994.

It is common practice in the manufacture of engravings or of the so-called die plates used for printing purposes, to emplo-ya master copy of the design or characters to be reproduced and, by tracing the outlines thereof with one end of a lever arm, to effect the engraving of the plate by a tool mounted on the opposite end of said lever, which is moved thereby over a pattern which is the mirror image of the master copy and which, for printing purposes, will produce an exact replica of the original. In many cases, however, it is desirable to make several copies of the original or, as in the case of color printing to make a separate die-plate corresponding to each of the color portions of the original which, when separately colorcd and imprinted upon the same sheet, will accurately register and superimpose the separate colors as they appeared in the master copy. As this is done. at the present time, each die-plate is made separately, requiring individual adjustment, repeated checking with the original, and duplication of work wherever more than one copy of the-whole or of a part of the original is desired.

It is, therefor, an object of my invention to retain the advantages of present operations and devices but to avoid these repetitions of effort and adjustments, and to provide a process and machine whereby one or several die-plates may be engraved concomitantly by a single tracing of the master copy either in whole or in a selective portion thereof, and whereby all of the die-plates to be engraved from the master copy may be adjusted in operative position at the outset, and whereby they may subsequently be held stationary with respect to each other, but adjusted relative to the position of the master copy.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a recording die-plate upon which all of the separately copied portions of the original will be engraved thus showing how much of it has been copied at any time, the accuracy thereof. and of any adjustments made between the dieplates and the original, and the composite effects of the complementary parts that have been copied at any stage in the process.

My invention comprises a process whereby these objects are'attained anda machine in which a plurality of dieplates may be set up and adjusted at the commencement of and in which the composite tracing of various portions of the pattern on separate plates may be combined on a recording plate.

To mores'pecilic ally describe my invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment thereof, and in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of. a machine, showing four die-plates and four corresponding engraving tools;

F 2 is a detail plan view of theh-ori- 'zont'alily free table in the direction of the arrows 2-2 in F 1; i

Fig. 3 is a detail and cross section view of an engraving tool, and lever arm for lift ing it; v r r Fig, 4 is a cross'section of the slidable platforms along line d4of Fig. l; v Fig. 5 is a plan View of a supporting platform, die-plate, engraving tool and lever arm; and

Fig. 6 is a front view' of the machine with the stationary platforms remove-d, and the movable table and tracing arm bracket broken away.

I The hollow upright l is attached at the bottom to a. base platform 2 upon which the master copy may be placed and is provided at the top with a. fixed spider 3 having ballbearing surfaces 4 and on the side with a vertical rack 5. Within said hollow upright 1 is positioned the shaft 7 protruding therefrom at the top with a fixed horizontal plat form 8 provided withparallel slides 9 in its upper surface upon which is mounted a table 11, having a flat surface 12 which fits said slides, and a hand operated pinion 13 engaging rack 14: on platform 8, by which it may be moved outward and inward. Up-

on said table 11 is mounted the movable table 16 having grooves 17 fitting over the edges 1=8 of table 11, and operated by a thumb screw and pinion 15 on table 11 and rack 20 fixed upright 21 which carries at uniformly spaced heights the horizontal platforms 22,

24, superimposed above the table 16. The 7 (Fig. 5) and rows of holes adapted to hold pins 25 between which the die-plates may be mounted on the platform and be securely held in position by wedges 30. It will be ob vious fromthis description and the drawings that by suitably advancing or withdrawing table 11 by operation of rack and pinion 1'3 and 14 and by sidewise movement of table 16 by means of its rack and pinion 15 and 20 these platforms may be. accurately adjusted to any desired position.

Adjustably mounted upon the upright 1 is a sleeve 31, having a thumb screw 32 and pinion 3 meshing with rack 5, and provided with a yoke-shaped bracket 34. At its extremity bracket 34 is pivoted at 36 to ring 37 which in turn is pivoted at 38 to a sleeve 39. Slidably mounted within said sleeve is the tracing arm 41 having at its lower end a slidably mounted tracing point 42 and at its upper end the collar 43 (Fig. 2), said collar is pivoted at 44 to ring 46 which in turn is pivoted at'47 to the horizontal table 48 which rests upon ball bearings 49 on the ball bearing surfaces 4 of the spider 3. The tracing arm is thus suspended by gimbal or universal joints. Mounted at one end of table 48 is the standard 51 having a plurality of extensible engraving arms, 52, 53, 54, 55, pivoted at 62, 63, 64, 6 5, and carrying at their free ends the engraving points 66, 67, 68,69, so spaced that said engraving points will rest upon the die-plates 26, 27 28, 29 and adjustable as to length by thumbscrews 71, 7 2, 73, 74.

At the base of upright 1 (Fig. 6) is also fixed the upright frame 76 extending up to the highest engraving arm 52 and having pivoted thereon, opposite to and passing slightly below each engraving. arm, the levers 77, 7 8, 79 and 80 restrained bysprings 81, 82, 83, 84 respectively, being pivoted at the end and immediately below the corresponding engraving arms to horizontal pieces 86, 87, 88, 89, retained in substantially horizontal position by springs 91, 92, 93, 94 and 96, 97, 98, 99, and at the opposite ends to rods 101, 102, 103 and 104,-which may be individually retained in lowered position by clutches 106, 107, 108, 109, which hold the pedals 111, 112, 113, 114 respectively.

Red 116 lies across the lever arms of said pedals 111, 112, 113, 114, and connects with a foot operated pedal below, which upon being pressed down will hold down all four pedals at once, and upon being released will permit all to resume their former position, and the engraving tools will move out of and into operating position accordingly, unless restrained by one or more of the clamps 106, 107, 108, and 109'.

In the operation of my machine, the tracing point 42 is raised, the master design from which the die-plates are to be engraved is positioned on the base 2 directly beneath it and clamped in any convenient manner.

The bracket 34 is raised or lowered (the sleeve 39 sliding along the tracing arm 41) a sufiicient amount to give the desired ratio of the distance between the pivots 36 and 47 to the distance between pivot 36 and the tip of tracing oint'42. If the copy is to be of the same size as the original this ratio will be 1, if smaller, less than one, if greater, more than one.

All of the engraving arms, 52, 53, 54, 55 are then raised by drawing down rods 101, 102, 103 and 104 by means of the foot pedal operating rod 116 and holding them in position thereby or by clamps 106, 107, 108 and 109, in the position, shown in Figs. 1 and 5, by arm 53, lever 78, rod 103, pedal 113, and clamp 108. Die-plates 26, 27, 28 and 29 are now placed in position upon the platforms 22, 23, 24 and 16, respectively, as shown, so that any given point upon one will preferably fall in the same vertical line as the corresponding point'upon the others, though not necessarily. Engraving arms 52, 53, 54 and 55 are then adjusted to equal lengths,

'so that engravingpoints 66, 67, 68 and 69 will be immediately above or below each other and in contact with the same relative point on each of the plates, when in lowered position, and fixed in position by thumbscrews 71, 72, 73, and 74, respectively.

From the foregoing description it is obvious that each engraving tool may be adjusted independently of the others. Thus all four engraving points may be lowered upon their corresponding die-plates, or only one of them or none as desired.

For example, While setting up the dieplates as just described with all four engraving arms in raised position, the tracing point'42 may be moved about over the master copy, (which will move the engraving arms, accordingly, as later described) to determine fixed points thereon, and an engraving tool may be lowered upon its dieplate tdindicate whether it is properly positioned and adjusted accordingly, as by moving the plate, the master copy, the length of the engraving arms or the heightof bracket 34, as the case may be.

The master copy and die-plates being xedin their desired relative positions, the engravingarms to be used are lowered upon the die-plates to be engraved by releasing corresponding clamps 106, 107, 108, 109. As shown by Fig. 6, clamps 106, 107 and 109 have been released, whereupon, activated by the springs 81, 83 and 84, the crossbars 86, 88 and 89 have dropped permitting engraving arms 52, 54: and 55 to also drop and their corresponding engraving tools 66, '68 and 69 to rest upon the surfaces of die-plates 26, 28 and 29, respectively, in operative position.

Now, it the tracing point 42 is moved over the master design, the upper portion of the tracing arm 41 above pivot 36 will move in the opposite direction a distance equal to the ratio which the upper portion of this arm bears to the lower, and transmit this motion through pivot 47 to the horizontally free table 48. The upright 51 and all of its engraving arms and the engraving tools mounted upon them will move correspondingly, those which are in contact with die-plates engraving them while those out of contact (arm 53) will ride upon the cross-bars (as 87) supporting them.

It the master design contains the primary colors red, yellow, blue, and a secondary color such as green, it will be necessary to engrave plate 27, for example, with the red pattern of the design, plate 28 with the yellow, and 29 with the blue poritons. The green portions will be copied on both the yellow and blue plate-s, so that when these plates are used for printing with yellow and blue colors respectively, the engraved portions common to both will super-impose upon the print and the two colors combined will produce green.

For effecting this result, the engraving arms are adjusted as shown in Fig. 1, engraving arms 5a, 55, are both lowered, with engraving tools 68 and 69 in operative position on die-plates 28 and 29. Now, if tracer point 42 is moved over the green portionof the master design, the corresponding area of die-plates 28 and 29 will be engraved identically the same, by the same tracing operation. Then, if it is desired to trace the yellow portion, and copy the yellow portions only on die-plate 28, the engraving tool 69 would be raised from plate 29 by depressing rod 101 and clamping it by clamp 106. This will depress one end of lever 80 raising the other end against spring 84, pressing up the horizontal cross-bar .89, (which is retained substantially horizontal, by springs 94 and 99) raising lever 55 about pivots 65, holding engraving tool 69 in inoperative position. Engraving tool 69 will still continue to follow tracer point 42, due to its pivoted con nection to upright 51 at 65, but will not contact with die-plate 29. That is, it will assume the position of engraving arm 53 and tool 67, as shown in Fig. 1, and slide upon the supporting cross arm 89, in a similar manner.

Likewise any one or more of the engraving tools may be moved out of operative position, but immediately released into operative position and in exact register again, if desired.

After tracing the complete design, as de scribed for plate 28, plate 27 will be engraved with the red portions of the master design, plate 28 with the yellow and green portions, and plate 29 with the blue and green. Moreover, these copies will be, in the instant case, identical in size, relative proportions and complementary to each other in forming, in the aggregate, an exact replica of the master design. They will however, be the mirror image of the original, so that when inked and a. composite impression taken from them, it will be identical with the original. The yellow plate will produce on tlie impression from it a copy of the yellow and green portions, the blue plate, the blue and green portions, the green portions from the yellow and blue plates being superimposed will produce green, and the red plate will produce the red portions, in the print.

The same procedure may be followed for any other color or combination of: colors, red and yellow tor orange, blue and red for purple and three or more plates for more complex color schemes. The upper die-plate 26 will show at all times the composite effect of the tr cing which has been done and serve as a guide to relative depths of cut, register of the individual color-sections one to the other and any false movement of the master copy. It also serves to check completion of thework, and may itself be used as a one color plate.

It the master copy or the die-plates are too large for the accommodation of the tracer arm, the master copy may be moved and the engraving arms raised and adjusted as in the firstinstance, or, all of the die-plates may be simultaneously moved, after raising the. engraving arms, by suitable adjustment of plattrom 11 by the rack and pinion 13,14 and of platform 16 by rack and pinion 15 and 20 as already described, registering the engraving points with the corresponding location of tracer point 1 2 on the master copy, and lowering the engraving arm or arms to be used.

I have thus provided a machine whereby die-plates may be accurately and rapidly set up and engraved by direct rcgisLr-r with the master design, in multiple, in whole or in part or according to the complementary colors or parts of the ori inal and whereby the amount and character of the work com-- pleted at any stage in the process is recorded and may be easily checked. Other advantages and improvements in construction and operation will be apparent from the above specification to those skilled in the art and from the following claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for making die-plates com prising a fixed standard, a universal joint thereon, a tracer arm mounted within said joint, at a point intermediate of its ends,

a slidable tracing point on said arm, a horizontally movable table, a universal joint connecting said arm to said table, a plurality of engraving tools mounted upon said table, a plurality of spaced, superposed platforms severally corresponding to said engraving tools, and means individual to each of said tools for adjusting the tool relative to said arm.

2. In a machine for engraving complementary portions of a master design, the combination or a universal joint a tracer arm mounted therein, intermediate of the ends, a series of superposed engraving tools, means interconnecting said series of tools and arm, a plurality of spaced, superposed platforms severally corresponding to said engraving tools and means -lfor efiecting individual independent adjustment of said tools into and out of operative position Without affecting the registry thereof With the Work.

3. In a. machine for engraving complementary portions of a master design, the combination of a universal joint, a tracer arm mounted therein, intermediate of its ends, a series of engraving tools, means interconnecting said series of tools and arm, a plurality of spaced, superposed platforms for supporting the Work severally corresponding to said engraving tools, and means for selectively and independently retaining any tWo or more of said tools in operative position While retaining the remainder in inoperative position.

t. In a machine for engraving complementary portions of a master design, the combination of a universal joint, a tracer arm mounted therein intermediate of its ends, a series of engraving tools, means interconnecting said series of tools and arm and a lever corresponding to each of said engraving tools, for individually raising and lowering same into and out of operative position, and a plurality of spaced, superposed platiorms for supporting the Work" severally corresponding to said engraving tools.

5. In a machine for engraving complementary portions of a master design, the combination of a universal joint, a tracer arm mounted therein, intermediate of its ends, a series of engraving tools, means interconnecting said series or tools and arm, a lever corresponding to each of said engraving tools for individually raising and lowering same into and out of operative position, means for independently retaining .d levers in adjusted position, and a plurality of spaced, superposed platforms for supporting the Work severally corresponding to said engraving tools.

6. In a machine for engraving complementary portions of a master design, the combination oi a universal joint, a tracer arm mounted therein, intermediate of its ends, a series of engraving tools, means interconnecting said series of tools and arm, a lever corresponding to each. of said engraving tools, for collectively raising and lowering two or more of said tools into or out of operative position, means for maintaining said levers in adjusted position, to selectively retain the corresponding tools out of operative position, and a plurality of spaced, superposed platforms for supporting Work severally corresponding to said engraving tools.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts,

this sixth day of July, 1923.

EDWARD L. HORNSEY. 

